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SAFC®, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich® Group, announced an extension to Sigma-Aldrich's proprietary CompoZr® Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) platform that will expand the availability of ZFN-based technology to include off-the-shelf ZFNs and custom cell engineering services for use in the biopharmaceutical industry.

"In a few short years, ZFNs have made a significant impact on the scientific community," said Dr. Kevin J. Kayser, Associate Director of the Cell Sciences and Development group at SAFC. "The ability to make targeted, heritable changes to genes has already led to quicker development of knock-in and knock-out cell lines for drug discovery programs and more productive cell lines for therapeutic protein manufacturing. We have conducted significant development work for deploying ZFN technology across commercial biopharmaceutical applications."

SAFC's offer complements ZFN products already in use in research and drug discovery fields and will include animal component-free catalog ZFNs for use in CHO cells as well as custom cell engineering services. This offer is expected to enable biopharmaceutical customers to create robust, efficient cell lines, thus allowing them to focus their R&D efforts on developing new therapeutics.

"One of the core areas of focus for SAFC is investing in the development of expertise across emerging technologies that both differentiate us in the marketplace and deliver tangible benefits that support customers in the development of next-generation therapeutics," said Gilles Cottier, SAFC President. "We are providing an array of customized ZFN-based products and services designed to meet the evolving demands of the biopharmaceutical market. Our investment in leading-edge technologies, together with our raw materials characterization initiatives, are expected to increase efficiency in biopharmaceutical processing."

About ZFN technology
ZFNs are a class of engineered DNA-binding proteins that facilitate targeted editing of the genome by creating double-strand breaks in DNA at user-specified locations. Double-strand breaks are important for site-specific mutagenesis in that they stimulate the cell's natural DNA-repair processes, namely homologous recombination and Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ). Using well-established and robust protocols, these cellular processes can be harnessed to generate precisely targeted genomic edits resulting in cell lines, including somatic cell lines, with targeted gene deletions (knock-outs), integrations (knock-ins), or modifications.

The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "will expand," "is expected to enable," "are providing," "are expected to increase," "is expected to provide" or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived therefrom. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that any of the ZFN products will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding these ZFN products could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About SAFC
SAFC (safcglobal.com) is the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. We are recognized as a top 10 global fine molecule supplier and trusted manufacturer of specialty chemicals and biologics for the life science and high technology industries. Utilizing global "Centers of Excellence" and dedicated manufacturing facilities, SAFC can resolve development and manufacturing challenges and accelerate the production of custom materials. Our rich portfolio includes high-purity inorganic materials for high technology applications, cell culture products, services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biochemical production, and complex, multi-step organic synthesis of APIs and key intermediates.

About Sigma-Aldrich
Sigma-Aldrich (sigma-aldrich.com) is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technology manufacturing. The Company has customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals, and in industry. Over one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 40 countries and has 7,700 employees providing excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to Accelerating Customer Success through Innovation and Leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its award-winning Website.

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